The invention relates to a connector for contacting an electrical conductor and a circuit board.
Connectors are used to separate and connect lines, which in particular are designed to convey electrical current. Connectors of this type usually have an insulating body with contact elements received therein. Here, the insulating bodies are designed in such a way that they have a connection side for the connection of electrical lines and an insertion side for coupling to an electrical component or a further connector.
The present invention relates to connectors which are provided in order to connect an electrical line to a PC board or what is known as a PCB (printed circuit board). These special connectors are required in order to electrically conductively contact a line and a PC board. Here, the contact elements received in the connector ensure the electrical connection of in each case a core of the electrical line and at least one, preferably two contact tracks provided n the PC board.
Connectors of this type previously had some disadvantages that were not insignificant. Connectors of the described type are primarily very laborious in terms of their assembly. The line to be connected must be prepared for contact with the connector. For this purpose, the insulated line cores usually have to be exposed. These are then to be connected individually to the contact elements of the connector in order to ensure an electrically conductive connection thereto. Once the line cores have been connected to the contact elements, these must be introduced into the insulating body and locked in place therein. The components of the connector which enable contact between electrical line and the connector are generally very complex.
A further disadvantage of the solution previously known from the prior art is constituted by the fact that connectors of this type usually require a mating connector in order to be connected to a circuit board. The mating connector must be soldered on or pressed onto the PC board at the appropriate point. The connector can be connected to the mating connector following prior assembly as described above. This is an additional component which has to be produced and assembled and additionally increases the cost of a plug-in connection accordingly.
In addition, the plug-in connection is made very large by the use of a further connector. The additional mating connector requires additional space. Particularly in very small assemblies, this may lead to problems in terms of the space for example for the cable guide.